Monday, July 27, 2015

Le Mixte Français Part Deux

Hello friends! after a long hiatus I am finally posting. I got this PH18L Peugeot Mixte back in March because I had Mixtes on the brain (curse you Mixte Heaven) and it was a great price and I thought I could build it up as a nice ladies city bike. I then recalled that my daughter had outgrown her bike and the grandparents had promised a bike as a birthday present (January). Since this was a small size I asked the girl if she liked it, she did, and checked the size, it fit, and then checked to see if the grandparents had done anything about a new bike, they hadn't, and if they were interested in financing the bike and new parts if I supplied the labor, they were. So with all that settled I ordered some parts and then promptly did nothing.

The bike had serviceable tires one it but they showed their age and had kind of a ugly mustard brown sidewall so I asked the girl what kind of tire she wanted showing her a variety of options, she chose the Schwable Delta cruiser white walls. Very nice.

The cables were also serviceable but were a fraying mismash of blue housing that matched the bike color (probably original) and basic black so once again I showed the girl a variety of options and she went with the Jagwire gold braided. She has style that girl and she will be my consultant on all future mixte builds.

The original saddle was also serviceable but tired and it had a tear in it so the girl picked out this basic Selle Royale city cruiser saddle.

As I said this bike sat for months for reasons I don't quite understand myself but it dawned on me that A) summer was slipping away, B) the grandparents were asking how the bike was coming along and C) I didn't have to do a complete tear down (gasp) I just needed to make it rideable for the summer. So that is my dirty little secret on this bike, I am doing it backwards, I hung all the pretty new parts so it can be ridden now and when the dark, damp winter comes I will do the hidden work on bearings and the like.

Now even though I took a "short cut" to get this bike on the road while the sun is still high in the sky I did put in some work;

Seat post removed and greased

Stem removed and greased

frame wiped down with armor all wipes

checked headset for play

hubs checked for smoothness, wheels checked for true

crank checked for smoothness and pedals for spin

new shift and brake cables and housing and adjustments

checked chain for wear then cleaned and lubed it, checked freewheel for wear

new saddle

new tires and tubes

This winter I will rebuild all the main bearings, give it a 3 step wax job and rebuild the pedals and maybe put on a new freewheel and chain but it was great to see the smile on my girls face when she saw the finished product today and got to ride it it around.

it actually works!

In profile

Front view

rear view

I half jokingly told her that she is my rolling billboard and that if any ladies compliment her on the bike she can tell them that her dad can build them one. Now I just need to ride my own bike and then I can go for a spin with my girl. Then I can take my own advice and ride, smile and repeat.